Earthquakes
Costa Rica is located at a major intersection of tectonic plates, which gives it a very active earthquake history. The entire country is crossed far and wide by active earthquake faults, many which have been responsible for important quakes in the past few years. As far back as 1841 there are records of large earthquakes. Some of the most important ones have been: *Cartago, 1910. M6.4. Completely destroyed Cartago and a large part of what is today the metro area. * Tilaran, 1963. M6.5. Damaged a good part of Tilaran, a city located between Arenal and Guanacaste. *Cobano, 1990. M6.8. Significant damage on the Pacific coast, and the Central Valley. *Limon, 1991. M7.6. The most severe earthquake of the 20th century. Limon's infrastructure was devastated, a good part of the capital was damaged. Hospitals suffered emergency shutdowns, and the coastline rose as much as 10 cm in some sectors. *Cinchona, 2009. M6.1. Completely destroyed the city of Cinchona in Alajuela, which was later relocated and became New Cinchona. This earthquake was caused by a local fault and not oceanic plates, which surprised many who believed local faults could only generate small earthquakes. *Samara, 2012. M7.6. A long awaited major quake on the Pacific coast, though there's still debate among geologists and seismologists as to whether this was "the big one" that had been expected for close to 20 years. Damage in the epicenter was significant, the rest of the country was not affected, due to the depth of the quake. Case in point, when you're travelling in Costa Rica, there's a chance you'll be caught in a minor quake, and some remote probability you'll get caught in a big one. You should know that Costa Rica has seismic building codes since the 1970's, codes which are updated every 5 years or so to incorporate new technologies and building methods. The information used to update them comes not only from Costa Rica, but also from other world-famous earthquake centers such as California, Japan, Chile, etc. Building codes are based largely on recommendations from the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). This makes structures relatively safe and earthquake resistant, and is one of the reasons big earthquakes with magnitudes over 6 degrees don't cause catastrophic damage like you see in the Middle East, Europe or Asia. Keep that in mind at all times: the building you're in, is probably safe in the event of an earthquake. Why? Because the first thing you need to do during an earthquake, is keep calm. You're going to feel the ground start to move side to side slightly at first, then more and more until it reaches a peak (it usually takes 10 to 20 seconds to reach the peak). If it gets strong enough, you'll hear walls and furniture start to make rattling sounds, car alarms will go off, and at this point it's possible the power will go out. The peak shaking might last 20 to 30 seconds (it'll feel like and eternity though), and then start to go down. If you're in a high rise, the violent shaking will stop, but the building will still sway side to side for 15 or 20 seconds more. All this is normal, and doesn't signal you're in any immediate danger. You'll see people getting up, running, screaming... pretty much chaos for those seconds of violent shaking. Despite it all, try to remain calm. Stop where you're at, look around you for a table or a desk, and crawl underneath. Get away from windows, glass panels, and shelves. If you're in a large high rise, spot the safety zones (usually columns marked with a large green sign) and move there. Ride out the quake, covering your head and neck with your arms. Don't try to escape the building during the quake. If the shaking is violent enough, it's likely you're going to get hit by falling objects, trampled by other people, or you're going to trip over something while running out. You're far safer inside, taking cover under a desk or table. If you're outside, get away from power wires and large windows. Try to find an open area to ride out the quake: a park, a front lawn, a parking lot. Don't run into the middle of the street. If you're in a car, stop your car, turn on the hazard flashers, leave your seat belt on, and stay inside. Once again, remember buildings are made to be safe during an earthquake. No buildings have suffered massive collapse in Costa Rica during earthquakes, since 1991. Even the most recent Samara earthquake did not collapse buildings. So stay calm, and stay inside. When the quake passes, get out and into an open area, away from power lines. Wait 10 or 15 minutes for any immediate aftershocks, and also to give yourself time to get your bearings. Seek out news and information via FM radio or the internet. Stay off the phone unless it's an emergency. Phone exchanges will normally switch to emergency numbers only for the first hour or so after a large quake, and won't route calls to regular numbers. If the quake got enough people panicky, most offices and shops will call it a day and close down. If not, it's back to normal. Chances are, you'll make your trip to Costa Rica and get back without ever feeling and earthquake. But if you should be one of the fortunate ones to get caught in the middle, remember these recommendations. They could save you a sprain, a fall or a cut, that might needlessly ruin the rest of your trip. Category:Health and safety